Words by Maureen Young
The Gharoli ceremony, where Sam’s future sister-in-law and other female relatives fill a pitcher with water and bathe the room, caught Anton off guard. A serious shake up from other weddings Infused Studios’ has captured, this getting ready involved photographing a half naked groom in a tub surrounded by female relatives! After the bathing ceremony, Sam’s sisters tied a sehera (floral veil) to his forehead and adorned him with a garland made from paper currency. Properly attired, they proceeded to the Temple for the Milni.
In Sikh wedding tradition, the groom getting ready is a more ornate occassion than the bride. Meezy’s morning was one of bonding as she chatted with her future sister-in-law, Aman. Sonia did an incredible job with Meezy’s make up but it wasn’t hard to make the glowing bride absolutely stunning. The rich magenta of Meezy’s sari and her ornate jewelery couldn’t outshine her smiles. Meezy joked about how goofy Sam was and how he would have ridden to the Temple on a horse if she hadn’t stopped him.
The Milni ceremony takes place prior the marriage and is an opportunity for the two families about to be joined by marriage to embrace one another and extend good wishes.   This was held outside the Temple, where Sam was greeted by a crowd of well wishers.
Meezy + Sam enter the Temple seperately and then sit together to attend the Guru Granth Sahib Kirtan. Sam’s sister draped a chunni around his neck and tied the other end to the pallu of Meezy’s lehanga.
After the ceremony, family pictures were done outside. As part of tradition, the girls try to get the groom to take off his shoes and, cunningly, the girls decided that Rina would be an ideal accomplice. Sam, who had seen this happen at friends’ weddings, should have known better but a combination of being tired from the ceremony & Rina’s innocent request to take a nice picture of his shoes got the best of him. No sooner were the shoes off than in Meezy’s hands and being thrown into the air before her girlfriends got them. 15 minutes and several family portraits later, Sam was a Cinderella no more and reunited with his shoes.
Much like a Chinese door game, Sikh tradition also barrs the groom’s entrance into the bride’s parental home. Meezy’s sisters barred the doorway, demanding a $10,000 entrance fee. Both sides of the family had something up their sleeves though and a battle of silly string vs. water guns soon ensued. To protect the girls and the house, an umbrella was used to shield some of the water gun attack.
The Vidaai (or Doli) ceremony marked the end of the celebration. This is the bride’s official departure from her parental home and first steps into her new life as a married woman. Meezy was adamant she wouldn’t cry, but when she saw her eldest brother, Gurb, with tears in his eyes, the waterworks began. It seemed her entire family was equally touched by seeing her off to start a new life as a married woman.
From Meezy’s parental home to her new home, where new demands must be met! Inflation seemed to hit the entrance fee as by the time they got to Sam’s house, there was a 50% increase in price! After bribing his way past his sisters and surviving a silly string attack (what can we say, karma!), Sam and his bride were welcomed by his mum, who gave her blessing for Meezy to join her family.
Sweets, dancing and chanting welcomed Meezy into her new family.
Part 3 you will see the the party go on until 4am in the morning.
